Quick Transmigration: Reversing the Life of a Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character

At the post station outside the city, Xiao Lan looked at her pale, thin, and weak cousin and turned pale with fright.

"Sister Cen, what happened? What's wrong?"

Xiao Cen laughed easily: "It's alright, it's alright. Sister was just careless and fell into the thief's trap."

"Huh? The Zhang family is considered a prominent and wealthy household. Which thief has the audacity to do this?"

"It's hard to guard against a thief within your own household."

Xiao Huaizhi and Xiao Lan were sent away so that Xiao Cen's body could be thoroughly examined.

"Brother, why is getting married so scary?" Xiao Lan asked dejectedly, first there was Sister Wang, then Sister Cen.

"Don't be afraid, your brother is here. I'll definitely find you a man from a respectable family with good character in the future."

"Brother, is there something wrong with our Xiao family's family tradition? Father and Second Uncle both have harmonious relationships with their wives, but there's this oddball, eldest brother. As for that Zhang family girl, before Sister Cen married into the family, didn't Second Uncle and Second Aunt investigate her? People can pretend."

Xiao Huaizhi was speechless. Yes, he couldn't even guarantee that he would be a good husband in his future wife's eyes, so how could he guarantee that other men would treat his sister well?

"How about you take a son-in-law as your husband?" Xiao Huaizhi suggested, "You won't leave the Xiao family, and your brother will protect you."

Xiao Lan chuckled: "Brother, how could a family like ours possibly be?"

Yes, how could that be? For a family like the Xiao family, unless everyone is completely wiped out and only Xiao Lan remains, would Xiao Lan still be able to make her own decisions?

"Alright, brother, I just said it on a whim. There are still many normal people in this world. I don't expect to be different. I just want to live like a normal, ordinary couple."

His sister's words did not comfort Xiao Huaizhi; on the contrary, they made him even more upset. An unprecedented resentment towards his elder brother rose in his heart. Lan'er was only ten years old, not even old enough to be in the bloom of young love, yet she was so frightened by the unbearable marriage around her that she had become indifferent!

Inside the room, Cui Yao sat to one side, waiting for the doctor to examine Xiao Cen, but her mind was racing.

High-yield seeds are more beneficial to people's livelihoods, and a reasonable excuse is needed to justify their existence.

Improving the crossbow can be done immediately, because the world has the foundation for it, and she is a military family member, so she has a legitimate reason.

What else could she do? It seems that maritime transport was very underdeveloped in this era. Multi-story ships? She certainly couldn't build them by hand herself, but she could use her status to have others build them. Anyway, she had money and theoretical knowledge.

She couldn't be like the original owner, just a noble lady in the inner quarters. She needed to make a name for herself and achieve something. The higher her status, the greater her chance of getting to the truth. She had to nip the cause of the Xiao family's downfall in the bud.

Even if she doesn't succeed in the end, she still needs to exchange her status as a princess for the survival of the Xiao family.

"Your Highness, the medicine on the young lady is a kind of medicine that makes her limbs weak. Once she stops taking the medicine, she will gradually recover," the physician reported.

"Hmm, what if it doesn't stop?"

"If this continues, he will become a completely useless person who can only be paralyzed in bed."

"The Zhang family is quite cunning."

Xiao Cen leaned against the bed: "Heh, that beast has no real talent or learning. His position as editor before marriage was only thanks to his uncle. Less than two months after the marriage, he resigned and went home because he wrote an important document wrong."

So the family had two women, one was the wife and the other the young mistress, but there wasn't a single lady.

"How did your parents investigate? How did they manage to fool this pretty-boy guy?"

"These days, I've been thinking back to the events before and after our engagement. My parents have been away from the capital for many years, and they asked several aunts in the capital to investigate his situation. The news they received was all very good. My mother wanted me to have a comfortable life after marriage, so she deliberately chose this not-too-high, not-too-low status for me." Xiao Cen sneered, "You can know a person's face but not their heart."

Cui Yao felt like she had overlooked something, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

The next morning, Princess Fu'an's caravan left the post station and arrived in the capital two days later. The Xiao family's steward in the capital greeted them outside the city.

Upon arriving at the Marquis's residence, Cui Yao greeted her fourth brother and sister-in-law, who were in charge of the household in the capital: "You must be tired from the journey. After visiting the old lady, you'll need to rest for a while. We'll meet up with you again in a few days."

"No rush, we're home now. Sister-in-law, please rest well. When you're free, please have someone tell me that I'll hand over the household's account books and seals to you."

"Fourth sister-in-law, there's no rush. Let my fourth brother take my visiting card and invite the imperial physician back to examine Cen'er."

"Don't worry, elder sister-in-law, the imperial physician has been summoned and is waiting in your main courtyard." Xiao Lao Si was adept at handling official duties. He was in poor health and unable to practice martial arts, so he had been handling official duties at the Marquis's residence in the capital.

"Okay, I'll go see the old lady and come back in a bit." Cui Yao nodded.

The old lady of the Marquis of Xiaoyong is almost sixty years old, which is considered a long life in ancient times. As she gets older, she enjoys life more and more and doesn't care about anything.

"I'm glad to know you had a safe journey. Go back and rest today. Bring Huaizhi and Lan'er to see me in a few days. By the way, is Qingzhi's wife pregnant yet?"

Cui Yao: "..."

So the people in the capital didn't take the matter of expelling Xiao Qingzhi seriously at all? The old lady didn't even know, and even though she sent a letter back, no one told the old lady about Xiao Cen's matter.

Seeing that the old lady was in good spirits, Cui Yao dismissed the servants and carefully explained the matter between the two of them.

"What? How could this happen?" The old lady's eyes reddened. "Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"Madam, I'm afraid that the fourth son and his wife are worried that you might get too anxious," Cui Yao said, looking at her head of silver hair.

"No, eldest daughter-in-law, I'm afraid she's developed delusions from managing the household for too long. I'm also exhausted now, so they managed to keep it from me. It's good that you're back. You still need to manage the household affairs. But, hasn't Qingzhi's situation improved? He's a descendant of the Xiao family." Xiao Lao Si was an illegitimate son. The old lady's legitimate sons were all on the frontier. Only this illegitimate son, who had been by her side since childhood, was not suitable for martial arts training, so he stayed in the capital. But it wasn't a big deal. Taking back the Guan family's power was just a matter of a word from the head of the family. At most, there would be a larger deficit and some financial loss.

"He's not the only descendant of the Xiao family." Cui Yao's mind was made up.

"Give me some time to think, give me some time to think," the old lady said reluctantly. "What about Cen'er's matter? What should we do? A divorce?"

Cui Yao shook her head: "It depends on what my second brother and sister-in-law and Cen'er themselves want. This time I just took advantage of the Zhang family's weakness and brought the child out. If she stays there any longer, Cen'er will die sooner or later."

"I'm going to check on Cen'er."

"Madam, before we came, Cen'er told us that she would come to see you in a few days. Now that she looks like this, there's no need to see her."

"This child, this silly child, she was afraid of upsetting her grandmother." The old lady insisted and finally went to see her granddaughter.